Hand-car



No. 617,344. Patented l an. l0, I899. J. MILLIRON.

HAND CAR.

(Application filed Feb. 15, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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Patented Ian. l0, I899. J. MILLIRON.

HAND CAR.

(Application filed Feb. 15, 1888.)

2 Sheets-Shaet 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Fries,

JACOB MILLIRON, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

HAND-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,344, dated January 10, 1899.

Application filed February 15, 1898. Serial No- 670,367. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, JACOB MILLIRON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nashville, in the county of Davidson and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Hand-Gar, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of a handcar for the use of railway employees, the general object of the invention being to improve and simplify the construction of such devices and render them more durable and effective in operation.

With this object in view my invention consists in a hand-car provided with flangeless driving-wheels mounted upon a central shaft, means for operating the said driving-wheels, and the usual front and rear flanged wheels mounted to yield vertically, whereby the weight of the car is principally supported on the driving-wheels.

My invention further consists in a hand-car provided with driving-wheels intermediate of the small front and rear wheels mounted on a shaft or axle having a pinion splined thereon, an intermediate short shaft provided with a pinion meshin g with the pinion on the aforesaid axle, a large gear-wheel mounted on the frame above the floor of the car, adapted to mesh with either of said pinions, and means for shifting the pinions to bring either into mesh or both out of mesh with the large gearwheel, the large gear-wheel being rotated by connections from a hand-lever pivotally mounted in a frame above the floor of the car.

My invention further consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of part shereinafter described, and

afterward specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention most nearly appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawin gs,formin g a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a handcar made in accordance withv my invention in position on the rails for practical operation. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the same. Fig. 3 is a bottom planview thereof.

from which depend brackets 8 and 9, slotted at their lower ends to receive the ends of shafts 10 and 11, upon which small flanged wheels 12 and 13 are mounted to turn.

14 is a central transverse shaft mounted in bearings 15, depending from the stringers of the car-body midway between the front and rear wheels, driving-wheels 16 being mounted upon the ends of said shaft, said driving Wheels being without flanges.

Levers 17, pivoted to the sides of the carbody, carry brake-shoes 18 at their lower ends, adapted to be engaged with the periphery of the driving-wheels when pressed down by the foot of a person standing upon the car.

The pinion 19 is splined upon the shaft 14, and a corresponding pinion 20 is splined upon an intermediate shaft 21, mounted in bearin gs 22 below the car-body, said pinions being engaged by pins projecting from shifting rods 23 and 24, mounted to slide in ways secured to the under side of the frame of the carbody, said shifting rods being connected to the opposite ends of a lever 25, pivoted at 26 to the bottom of the floor of the car, the rod 24 being also connected to the inner end of a lever 27, also pivoted below the floor of the car and projecting beyond one end thereof for facility of operation.

, A large gear-wheel 28 is mounted in bear ings in a frame 29, the bottom beams of which are bolted through the car-floor to short crossbeams 30, said gear-wheel being mounted in a position relative to the pinions 19 and 20 whichwill permit these pinions', which are elongated and always remain in gear with each other, to be alternately engaged or meshed with said large gear-wheel or shifted out of mesh therewith by a movement of the lever 27 as before described.

An annular flange 28 projects laterally from the gear-wheel 28, which is engaged by clamp-jaws and 31, pivotally secured to a short bar 32,which in turn is pivotally secured to an arm 33 by means of a pin or bolt 34, passing through a slot 35 of the short bar or arm 32, a stop-pin 36, projecting laterally from the arm 33, serving to limit the movement of the arm 32 on its pivot in an upward direction.

The arm 33 is pivoted on the shaft 37 of the large gear-wheel 28, and a link 38, pivotally connected at 39 to the arm 33, passes upward and is pivotally connected at 40 to a handlever 41, mounted on a short shaft or pin 42, which is mounted in bearings 43 on the top of the frame 29. A similar hand-lever 44 is mounted on the same shaft 42 and has pivotally connected with it at 45 a similar link or rod 46, which by means of the same arms and jaws connects with an annular rim similar to the rim 28, projecting from the opposite side of the large gear-wheel 28.

In the operation of my invention we willsuppose that the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, in which the operating hand-lever 41 is elevated and the pinion 19 on the main driving-shaft is in mesh with the large gearwheel 28. By pulling downward on the lever 41 the link or connectingrod 38 will be depressed and will cause the arm 33 to oscillate downward on the shaft 37. This will cause the bar 32 and itspivoted clamping-jaws to be carried downward, the jaws in this downward motion clamping the annular flange 28 of the wheel 28 and turning said wheel upon its shaft. This rotation of the wheel will be communicated to the driving -shaft and driving -wheels through the pinion 19, whereby the driving wheel will be rotated and the car caused to move toward the right, as illustrated in Fig. 2. In the meantime the lever 44 will have risen and carried the link 46 up, the jaws connected with the mechanism on this side of the wheel 28 sliding over the rim without taking hold thereof. This lever having been raised to its highest position and the lever 41 lowered, the lever 44 will be depressed and the jaws it carries will then engage the flange on the wheel 28 on the opposite side from the flange 28, continuing to move the wheel in the same direction, the jaws 30 and 31 in the meantime sliding back over the flange 28. By the repeated oscillation of the hand-levers 41 and 44 on their shaft 42 the car will be given a continued motion in the same direction and the levers may be stopped at any time, the gripping action of the jaws on the annular flanges ceasing as soon as the handlevers are stationary.

When it is desired to stop the car, pressure on the vertical levers 17 will readily produce this effect.

It will be observed that the large gearwheel 28 can be only moved in the direction thus described. It will therefore be necessary in order to drive the car in the opposite direction to slide the pinions 19 and 20 on their shafts to a position opposite to that shown in Fig. 3, which will be accomplished by moving the hand-lever 27 to the position shown in dotted lines in said figure, when the pulley 19 on the driving-wheel shaft will be thrown out of mesh with the main gear-wheel 28 and the pulley 20 on the intermediate shaft 21 will be thrown into mesh, the two pinions remaining in mesh with each other. lVhen thus adjusted, the motion of the gearwheel will be communicated to the idler-pinion 20 and from the idler to the pinion 19 and shaft 14, which willrotate the drivingwheels in the opposite direction, and thus move the car in that direction.

It will be noticed that the small flanged front and rear wheels are mounted to turn on their shafts and that their shafts are mounted in slots in the lower ends of the depending bearing-brackets. By this means the weight of the car and its contents will bear directly upon the driving-Wheels, and thus insure frictional contact between them and the rails, the small flanged wheels bearing very slighty upon the track and simply acting as guidewheels to prevent the derailment of the car. By means of this construction the drivingwheels may be made without flanges, which will greatly facilitate the movement of the car on curves, which movement will also be further facilitated by the mounting of the small wheels to turn independently on their axles:

By moving the lever 27 to a position intermediate of the two adjustments before described both the pinions l9 and 20 will be thrown out of mesh with the gear-wheel 28, which will be of especial advantage where the car is allowed to move by virtue of its own momentum, as upon a downgrade, the disengagement of the gearing tending to decrease the wear upon the parts and permitting of the more free movement of the car under such circumstances.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that my improved hand-car possesses many advantages over those heretofore in use, the parts being simple and of a minimum number and of such construction as to be least liable to breakage and excessive wear with ordinary usage. I

While I have illustrated and described the best means now known to me for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction and arrangement shown and described, but hold that such slight changes and variations as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic would properly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described myinvention,

- what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a hand-car, the combination of alarge' gear-wheel, adapted to mesh with the pinion of the driving-shaft and provided with later- IIO ally-projecting annular flanges, with a handlever pivoted above the gear-wheel, a radial arm loosely pivoted on the shaft of the gearwheel, a link connecting the said arm with the hand-lever, a short arm pivoted at the outer end of the radial arm and projecting toward the center, gripping-jaws pivoted upon said short arm and bearing upon the opposite sides of the annular flange, and a stop on the radial arm to limit the upward movement of the short arm on its pivot, substantially as described.

2. In a hand-car, the combination of front and rear flanged wheels, loosely mounted on their shafts, with flangeless driving-wheels rigidly mounted on a shaft intermediate of the flanged wheels shafts, pivoted hand-levers and connections between them and the shaft of the flangeless driving-wheels, whereby the motion of the hand-levers is transmitted to the driving-shaft and the flanged Wheels are permitted to turn independently of each other, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the main body of the car, of depending front and rear brackets slotted at their lower ends, front and rear shafts loosely mounted in said slots, flanged wheels loosely mounted on said shafts, and main driving-shaft and wheels mounted intermediate of the front and rear shafts,whereby the front and rear wheels are permitted to yield vertically and to turn independently of each other, on their shafts, substantially as described.

4. In a hand-car, the combination of pivoted hand-levers, a main driving gear-wheel mounted upon an independent shaft, rods connecting the hand-levers with said gearwheel, a wide pinion splined on the drivingshaft adapted to mesh with the main gearwheel, a narrow idler-pinion in mesh with the wide driving-shaft pinion and splined on an intermediate shaft, and mechanism for shifting the wide pinion and narrow pinion simultaneously in opposite directions, for causing the engagement or disengagement of the wide and narrow pinions alternately with the turning gear-wheel while maintaining their engagement with each other, substantially as described. JACOB MILLIRON.

Witnesses:

J. T. HOOVER, H. F. COOPER. 

